People who can self-publish is great because it allows people like me to finally publish something I spent years working on. It also gives the public more books to read. I don’t know about you, but I have read almost every fantasy novel out there. Being able to read something that is self-published gives me more options. The self-published books may not always be as good, but they can be.
One drawback, however, is self-publishers don’t always have the education, knowledge, or skill to write a professional novel. This doesn’t mean that the story being told isn’t good. It just means there might be a lot of grammatical errors or the story may not be as intricately involved as Robert Jordan’s fantasy novels.
To make your fantasy novel better, it helps if you try to acquire the education to learn what you don’t know. What makes a story good? Is your story any good? Could it be better? Educate yourself. Read other novels and compare. Take creative writing courses. Read books on creative writing.
Don’t be afraid to ask others to read your fantasy novel and provide honest feedback. Honest feedback is not likely to come from family or friends. Share your story on writer’s forums such as Fantasy-Writers.org. Find people on Facebook who share your interests and might be willing to critique your fantasy novel for you. Join a writers group off-line. All these people might be able to provide you some insight which you never thought, find inconsistencies, and give some tips on how to make your fantasy novel characters more interesting.
Many self-publishers take the shortcut of not having their fantasy novel professionally edited. They edit it themselves. But how can you self-edit your book if you don’t know what you don’t know. You can’t find mistakes if you don’t know you are making them. Get a book on grammar and punctuation, such as “The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation“.
I have done most of the things I’ve talked about above. But even though I have already written and self-published my first book, I am constantly trying to improve my writing skills. I think my first fantasy novel, “The Third Dragon“, is good. But I want my future fantasy novels to be better. To make your fantasy novel the best it can be, do what you can to learn what you don’t know.
Fantasy/Sci-Fi Author Dawn Ross 